Sierra's Word of Fire snuffed out

A few meters from the U.S./Mexico border in Ciudad Juárez, Spanish artist Santiago Sierra create a gigantic piece called Palabra de Fuego (Word of Fire) by carving 15-meter-tall letters into the earth, then filling each with concrete. "Sumision," Spanish for submission, references the sweatshop conditions many of the dwellers of Anapra zone labor under, the devastating health problems caused by nearby American-owned lead-smelting foundries, and the Cold War-style wall U.S. Homeland Security officials plan to build to control immigration. On May 24, Sierra was to complete the piece during a live webcast -- by igniting fuel poured into the concrete letterforms.

That never happened. Sierra's website says the effort was "obstructed by the local government in an action that included the use of public forces." Despite the fact Sierra obtained proper permits from the Urban Development and Ecology Secretary, local officials halted the burn, citing damage to the environment. Representatives of the project's sponsor, Proyecto Juárez, said it'd emit the same amount of fumes as two schoolbuses making a 20-kilometer drive.

Proyecto Juárez director Mariana David, also Sierra's wife, said the permit revocation amounts to censorship. "We came to Juarez to talk about power structures," she told Artnews. "And we're looking at a case of exactly what we're talking about -- an abuse of power."

Ironic: Anonymous Republican blocks vote on open government

Despite being passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority and getting Senate Judiciary Committee approval, a bill promoting government transparency has been barred from getting a floor vote, thanks to an anonymous Republican senator. The unnamed legislator put a secret hold on the Open Government Act, which can be done without revealing the senator's identity or a rationale for the move.

Aimed at strengthening the Freedom of Information Act and speeding up the processing of FOIA requests, the stalled measure has been targeted by journalists and bloggers seeking to unmask the senator. Said Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy, "It is both unfortunate and ironic that this bipartisan bill, which promotes sunshine and openness in our government, is being hindered by a secret and anonymous hold."

The Society of Professional Journalists is leading a crowdsourcing campaign to identify the senator. So far the effort has identified 75 senators who did not place the block. Minnesota's Sen. Norm Coleman was not among those 75.

Update: The Associated Press reports that Sen. Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, placed the block because "the Justice Department is concerned that it could force them to reveal sensitive information." The SPJ has dubbed Kyl "Senator Secrecy."

Man in a Picasso Suit

In 1998, Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan hired an actor to put on a Disney-mascot-sized Picasso head and the painter's signature striped shirt and then hang out, jingling a cup of coins, near the MoMA entrance. At the time he said he liked "the contradiction of Picasso begging," but offered little more on the subject. Notorious for his pranks, Cattelan doubtless had an intent that hovered somewhere between homage, critique, and a joke at the art world's expense.

In preparation for the Walker Art Center's June 16 opening of the Whitney-organized exhibition Picasso and American Art, I emailed Cattelan asking for his thoughts on Picasso's impact on art, either his own or in general. His emailed reply, a lengthy list of lines that began "Picasso is," appeared to be either the result of free association or of a Google search of the phrase. Here's an excerpt from that email:

picasso is dead
picasso is missing
picasso is a communist
picasso is an elderly cat with clipped ears
picasso is a docudrama and immortal beloved is a tragedy
picasso is not the sort of car that leaps to mind when you think 'road trip'
picasso is not the world
picasso is the only artist i know of that is mentioned in a devo song
picasso is 20th century art
picasso is one of the rare gold
picasso is being picky about eating and seems to be sulking
picasso is the greatest artist of the twentieth century
picasso is situated in the heart of historic paris
picasso is also equipped with a wealth of stowage space
picasso is much more controversial than Rembrandt
picasso is born in malaga in 1881 and died in the south of france in 1973
picasso is rather unique
picasso is a struggling artist
picasso is a feature film written and directed by stephen kijak with an ensemble cast including alexis arquette
picasso is a registered domain trade name of max corporation
picasso is not shown to have a remorseful bone in his body
picasso is known for his etchings
picasso is an interactive drawing tool in the style of unix idraw or macdraw
picasso is considered by most authorities as the greatest artist of the 20th century
picasso is soon to become a reality
picasso is the name of this ladybird
picasso is built in vigo
picasso is the greatest art genius of the twentieth century
picasso is a coloring book and creativity package for children
picasso is a womanizer
picasso is a 1994 westphalian gelding
picasso is interesting because everything about his life is related to his art
picasso is classified as a refined

Images courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery.

Kelburn Castle

With nine days to go, here's the progress made on Scotland's Kelburn Castle, which is gradually being covered by artworks by some of Brazil's best street artists.

"Throes" Turns Two

Two years ago today, Dick Cheney declared the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes."

In those two years, 1,049 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq -- nearly a third of all American military personnel killed in the entire war. That day Cheney said, "I think we're making major progress. And, unfortunately, as I say, it does involve sending young Americans in harm's way." On this last day in the deadliest month in over two years for U.S. service men and women, we've got to wonder what it'll take to either bring on the real "last throes" or to bring our friends and kids and siblings home.

At last: Strib hires a D.C. reporter

This shouldn't be big news but it is: after nearly three months without a single full-time reporter in our nation's capitol, the Minneapolis Star Tribune has hired a chief correspondent for its Washington desk. And, better still, it's Kevin Diaz, a veteran reporter who had the job before new Strib owner Avista low-balled him with a salary offer he couldn't afford to take. Read my Minnesota Monitor post to learn more.

Media News via RSS

Thanks to some new updates at Minnesota Monitor, you can now get my daily media news column -- or anything else I write for MN/MON -- via RSS feed: http://minnesotamonitor.com/userDiary.do?personId=10&feed=rss.
Or, just bookmark my author page.

Burnt Toast Savior

In Berlin, "a large portrait of Jesus made entirely from hundreds of pieces of burnt toast, all in differing shades of 'burntness.'"

Cindy Sheehan calls it quits

On Memorial Day, peace activist Cindy Sheehan decided to sell off her 5-acre Camp Casey and stop protesting:

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.

She says she wants to go back home and be a mom to her surviving children and step down as the "face" of the peace movement. She has harsh words for Democrats and lefties who turned against her, she says, when her criticisms extended beyond George Bush to Democrats who've failed to stop the war:

People of the world look on us Americans as jokes because we allow our political leaders so much murderous latitude and if we don’t find alternatives to this corrupt "two" party system our Representative Republic will die and be replaced with http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifwhat we are rapidly descending into with nary a check or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland. I am demonized because I don’t see party affiliation or nationality when I look at a person, I see that person’s heart. If someone looks, dresses, acts, talks and votes like a Republican, then why do they deserve support just because he/she calls him/herself a Democrat?

Read my January 2007 interview with Sheehan.

Landscaped business cards

Just add a little water and some sun and these seeded business cards from Zurich-based landscape architects Tur & Partner will "sprout right through the holes in the plan printed on the card."

The impertinence of tenacious journalism

The impertinence of tenacious journalism: When U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Rachel Paulose stepped up to the podium on Monday for a press conference about the recent prostitution busts in the Twin Cities and Austin, Minn., she laid out her ground rules: she'd only accept questions on that topic. Most reporters toed the line, writes Powerline's John Hinderaker. But "[t]here were two notable exceptions to the professional demeanor of most of the reporters in attendance. One of the two was KARE 11's Scott Goldberg, whose story evidences his other interests, if not his rudeness. I forget the other, but he too was a piece of work almost up to the Goldberg standard. Let's call him the Goldberg variation."

Goldberg's infraction? Asking Paulose about, in his words, "the questions surrounding her appointment as U.S. attorney and her management style." (Paulose' age, 35, and her coziness with the Bush administration have caused many to wonder about the conditions surrounding her appointment.)

Brian Lambert reports that Goldberg shot back at his KARE 11 blog, saying Paulose's request was not a "ground rule [but] a joke":

In our industry, ground rules are conditions agreed upon by both parties before an interview takes place. The Paulose press conference didn’t begin with an agreement. It began with a decree...

A public official, in a public building, at a public meeting, can not tell reporters they are not allowed to ask questions about unpopular topics. That would be like Tony Snow announcing President Bush won’t be taking any questions on Iraq. Come on.

Let’s remember the backdrop:

1. This was the very first press conference Paulose held after three of the top lawyers in her office resigned their management positions and called her management style into question.

2. This was the very first press conference Paulose held after the news broke that the name of her predecessor, Tom Heffelfinger, had surfaced on a Justice Department “hit list.”

3. This was the very first opportunity we had to ask Minnesota’s new U.S. attorney about the scandal surrounding her boss, Alberto Gonzales.

4. This press conference happened to be taking place two days before Monica Goodling, the White House aide who played a role in hiring Paulose, was scheduled to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

Knowing all of that, why on earth wouldn’t we ask Rachel Paulose about the elephant in the room?

[Cross-posted at Minnesota Monitor.]

Impaler's Film Debut

Minnesota's most-infamous gubernatorial candidate -- the one with the cape, not the feather boa -- is the subject of a documentary film making its U.S. premiere at Minneapolis' Oak Street Cinema on May 30. "Impaler," by Texas filmmaker W. Tray White, chronicles Jonathon Sharkey's 2006 run for governor as the Vampires Witches and Pagans Party candidate. Make that a "Satanic Sanguinary Vampyre and Hecate Witch." Sharkey's political platform runs the gamut from pulling troops out of Iraq and legalizing gay marriage to punishing "terrorists" (those who engage in anything from drunken driving to murder) with impalement.  Filmmaker White and Sharkey, who is running for U.S. president in 2008, will take part in a Q&A after the Oak Street screening. Watch the trailer.

Sick.

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The trailer for Sicko, Michael Moore's latest.

Spoon, Cherry, Weird Toy.

One of the questions in the "How Minnesotan are you?" quiz is whether you've ever had your photo taken in front of the Walker's Claes Oldenburg sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry. If you're a local, or just passing through, you probably have.

But have you done the perspective games (of the I-squish-your-head variety)? Painted a Spoonbridge art car? How about posing your favorite toy in front of the Minneapolis icon. At The Day Job, I started noticing the latter -- and now I'm looking for more photographic examples. Leave a comment if you've seen an example -- like Fred Flintstone, a yarn kitty, and Italian Jesus-- of the holding-something-in-front-of-Spoonbridge meme. If I find enough, I might do a feature in the Walker magazine. Thanks.

Squint to see Wal-Mart

For his walmArt series, artist Jonathan Lewis takes photos inside big-box stores, then pixelates them beyond recognition. Sort of. As Laurel at I [Heart] Photography writes, "The amazing thing is how distinctly they still read as consumer spaces."

Negroponte: Intel's trying to run me out of business.

Nicholas Negroponte of the One Laptop Per Child project, which famously created a rugged computer to be sold for $100 to students in the developing world, accuses Intel of selling its $85 Classmate PC under cost in order to run OLPC out of business. Negroponte says Intel is peeved that OLPC's laptops use processors from AMD, Intel's main competitor.

Gormley: Art is an open space for generating "alternative value."

Asking "What is art for?," Antony Gormely comes up with "some propositions":

• Politics has become management.

• Ideological positions are unsustainable when comfort is the highest good.

• We are post-ideology.

• Art is an open space that allows for the generation of alternative value.

Gormley just opened his first major London show at the Hayward Gallery. A key work in Blind Light is a chamber filled with dense vapor created by oscillating ultrasonic humidifiers that reduce visibility.

Toot.

That's the sound of one horn honking: I won a 2nd place in the Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards for this piece I wrote for Minnesota Monitor.

Infant gets Gun Owner's ID Card

Yikes:

Someday, Howard David Ludwig's Firearm Owner's Identification Card will be stored in a box with his first pair of shoes and perhaps a lock of his baby hair.

That's because the card was issued when Howard, nicknamed Bubba, was just 10 months old. It lists his height (2 feet, 3 inches) and weight (20 pounds) but doesn't note he's yet to learn how to walk.

With some exceptions, FOID cards are required of any Illinois residents purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition within the state.

The card wasn't a mistake. Bubba's father, a columnist for The (Tinley Park) Daily Southtown who is also named Howard Ludwig, paid the $5 fee and filled out the application.

Still, the card's arrival, complete with his son's toothless baby photo, surprised him.

Ludwig expected instead to receive a letter, he joked Tuesday, that read: "Thanks for your five bucks. You're an idiot. We're not sending your kid a FOID card."

Illinois State Police oversee the application process for the cards. Their purpose, said Lt. Scott Compton, was to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, those under an active order of protection and those convicted of domestic violence.

"Does a 10-month-old need a FOID card? No, but there are no restrictions under the act regarding age of applicants," he said.

Read more.

Graf Castle

For less than a week, Brazilian graffiti artists have been having their way with a Scottish castle. The Graffiti Project at Kelburn Castle has invited street artists Os Gemeos, Nina Pandolfo, and Nunca to paint an entire building 35 miles west of Glasgow. Aiming to "take the vibrant and often transient art form of Brazilian graffiti out of its predominantly urban context and apply it to the ancient and permanent walls of an historic rural castle in Scotland," the project is coming along, but as the website's ticker states, they've still got 22 more days to go.

Here's where they're at now: